Drawing device

ABSTRACT

A child&#39;&#39;s drawing device including a base plate having a central opening. A template having a notched periphery is located and rotatable in said central opening and a gear is received in a gear seat in said base plate. The teeth of the gear are in engagement with the notched periphery of the template. Means is provided for selectively securing said gear in any one of a plurality of orientations and since the gear and template rotate with each other for securing said template in any one of a plurality of orientations. The base plate includes a number of edges and flanges depend from each of said edges in the same direction perpendicularly away from said base plate. During use a pad may be held fixed relative to said base plate and template by being nested within said flanges.

United States Patent Siegel I 1 Oct. 24, 1972 [54] DRAWING DEVICE [72] Inventor: HermanM. Siegel, Stamford, Conn.

[73] Assignee: E. S. Lowe Company, Inc., Long Island City, NY.

[221 Filed: April 2, 1971 211 Appl.No.: 130,676

[52] US. Cl. ..33/l74 B [51] Int. Cl. ..B44d 3/30 [58] Field of Search ..33/27 C, 27 L, 174 B; 35/26,

[56] References Cited 1 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,672,751 6/1928 Conti ..33/80 x 2,560,736 7/1951 015011 ..33/41 B x 3,568,327 3/1971 Furuoka ..33/174 B FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 202,275 11/1923 Great Britain ..33/174 B 373,808 3/1907 France ..33/78 11/1969 Germany ..33/l74 B Primary Examiner-Leonard Forman Assistant ExaminerCharles E. Phillips Attorney-Kirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Frank [5 7] ABSTRACT A childs drawing device including a base plate having a central opening. A template having a notched periphery is located and rotatable in said central opening and a gear is received in a gear seat in said base plate. The teeth of the gear are in engagement with the notched periphery of the template. Means is provided for selectively securing said gear in any one of a plurality of orientations and since the gear and template rotate with each other for securing said template in any one of a plurality of orientations. The base plate includes a number of edges and flanges depend from each of said edges in the same direction perpendicularly away from said base plate. During use a pad may be held fixed relative to said base plate and template by being nested within said flanges.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTED B I972 3.699.660

INVENTOR Hera LN n .f/eaa 1 DRAWING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION template on the paper and then rotated the template to another orientation where the tracing operation with the same and/or different holes was repeated. The child continued this until he obtained a design of pleasing appearance.

There were a number of drawbacks associated with the prior art drawing devices of the kind which have been described'above. One drawback was that with many of these devices it was difficult for a child to position the template in its different orientations. This was because utilization of the means to position the template in its different orientations required a high degree of dexterity, something that many children of tender ages do not have.

Another drawback with many prior art drawing devices of the type hereinabove described was that no provision was made for securing the paper which was being traced upon in alignment with the template. Accordingly, many times the papermoved relative to the template hampering the child from carefully tracing out the holes in the template on the paper.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved drawing device of the kind hereinabove described.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a drawing device wherein a simple to use means is provided for allowing a template to be rotated about its rotational axis to any one of a plurality of orientations and to lock said template in any of said orientations.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drawing device of the kind herein described wherein means is provided for holding the paper which is being drawn upon fixed relative to the template.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a drawing device including a base plate having four edges and a central aperture. Flanges depend perpendicularly away from said base plate edges in the same direction. A template having a plurality of holes extending therethrough of different configurations and a notched periphery is received within said aperture and rotatable therein. A detent mechanism including a rotatable gear is positioned so that the teeth on the gear are in engagement with the notched periphery of the template for any orientation of the template. Means is provided for rotating the gear and the gear is positioned in a gear seat which extends into said base plate. A portion of the periphery of said gear seat is cut away and the U- an attractive drawing is obtained.

shaped central portion of a leaf spring extends therethrough and is biased against the teeth on the gear.

In normal operation a pad of paper is positioned between the flanges depending from the base plate edges with the flanges preventing said pad from moving relative to the base'plate. A child may then trace out the different holes in the template on a sheet of paper on the pad. When the child is finished doing this he rotates the, gear and the central portion of the leaf spring moves outwardly and away from the gear teeth.

The child stops rotating the gear when the template is at the orientation he desires at which time the central portion of the spring snaps between adjacent gear teeth to prevent the gear and template from rotating. The child may then trace out the same and/or different holes in the template. This cycle can be repeated until These and various other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent to the reader in the following description.

- This invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION or THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is' a top plan view of the embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the template of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a pad that is used with the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the portion of the present invention containing the detent mechanism;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 7--7 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In FIG. 1 of the drawings an embodiment 10 of the present invention is shown and includes a base plate 12 which is generally square in cross section. Base plate 12 includes equal length edges l4, 16, 18, and 20 with flanges 22, 24, 26 and 28 depending respectively from each of said edges. The flanges all depend perpendicularly away from base plate 12 and are all identical to each other in configuration.

Located symmetrically in the center of the base plate 12 is a circular opening 30 which extends therethrough. A flange 32 extends downwardly from the periphery of opening 30 and is perpendicular to base plate 12.

A detent mechanism 34 is secured to base plate 12 and includes a gear 36 which is received in a gear seat 38. Gear 36 has a knob 36a which projects upwardly therefrom for rotating the gear and a peripheral wall 38a surrounds a substantial portion of the gear. Gear seat 38 includes an opening in its peripheral wall 38a adjacent opening 30 and the teeth of the gear at this opening project therethrough for a purpose that will soon be readily apparent.

A gear seat bottom wall 38b extends inwardly from 2 wall 38a, is annular and perpendicular to wall 38a. A

vertical annular wall 38c extends upwardly from the bottom wall 38b to a horizontal circular top wall 38d. An opening 38c extends through the central portion of wall 38d. A post 36b depends from gear 36 through opening 38e and past wall 38d.

A locking ring 40 includes a depressed central portion 40a and a horizontal portion with the horizontal portion of the locking ring in contact with the bottom of top wall 38d. The outer circular edge of the horizontal' portion of locking ring 40 is in contact with annular wall 38c and the inner circular edge of the depressed portion of locking ring 40 tightly grasps post 36b. As a result of the above construction an upward force applied to gear knob 36a does not result in gear 36 being removed from seat 38.

Pins 42 and 44 are integral with the inside surface of flange 26, are spaced apart from each other and-extend for a substantial portion of the height of the flange. In a similar fashion pins 46 and 48 are integral with the inside surface of flange 24 and extend for a substantial portion of the height thereof. The distances between the intersection of flanges 24 and 26 and pins 46 and 48 equals the distances between the intersection of said flanges and pins 44 and 42, respectively.

A leaf spring 50 has a raised U-shaped central positioning dog. Dog 50a extends through an opening in wall 38a and is in contact with gear 36 as will hereinafter be described. Raised central dog 50a includes twoopposed sides with legs 50b and 50c each being integral with a different side. Leg 50b includes a bow at its free end which is nested between pins 42 and 44. In a similar fashion leg 50c has a bow at its free end which nests between pins 46 and 48. A piece of cork 52 is secured to the bottom of base plate 12 close enough to the spring to prevent a child from pulling dog 50a out of the opening in wall 38a yet far enough away to allow the dog to move radially of gear 36 for the purpose hereinafter described. A segment of dog 50a rests on a depressed circular ledge 38f in wall 38b.

A circular template 54 having a regularly notched periphery and a plurality of difierently shaped apertures extending therethrough is located within opening 30. The notched periphery of template 54 is in engagement with the teeth of gear 36 which extend into opening 30. While apertures in template 54 having certain configurations have been illustrated it is of course to be appreciated that other configurations could be used without departing from the scope or spirit of the present invention. As can be seen in FIG. 7 a flange 54a extends downwardly from the template periphery and is nested within flange 32 to assist in locating the template relative to the base plate.

In normal use base plate 12 is placed over a pad 56 such as shown in FIG. 4, nesting on a horizontal flat surface. The pad is nested between flanges 22, 24, 26 and 28, being shaped to nicely fit in the space defined thereby. The flanges prevent the pad from moving relative to the template thus overcoming one of the problems heretofore present in the prior art. In unstressed condition the legs of spring 50 are colinear.

However with dog 50a in gear seat 38 and the bowed tips of the spring located between the pairs of pins 42, 44, 46 and 48 the center of the spring is flexed away from the center of gear 36 imparting a restoring bias that urges dog 50a against gear 36, the dog seeking an idle position between teeth of gear 36 to prevent rotation of the gear and thereby act as a detent.

. With template 54 in the position shown in FIG. 1 and the flange thereof received within flange 32 depending from opening 30 a child can trace out one or more apertures of template 54 selected by him on the top piece of paper in pad 56. The child can then turn knob 36a rotating gear 38 and template 54. When this happens the outer portions of the teeth of gear 36 which pass by the opening in wall 38a through which dog 50a extends cam the dog radially outwardly. Dog 50a snaps back with a click to engage the next inter tooth space on gear 38. A child can ensure equal degrees of rotation of template 54, a proper step if an asthetically desirable design is to be formed, by counting equal numbers of clicks. After template 54 has been rotated a desired amount the child stops rotating knob 36a and the resiliency of the leaf spring urges dog 50a into the space between adjacent teeth on gear 36. This prevents the gear and hence the template from freely rotating.

On a few occasions it is possible that the raised central portion of the spring will be in contact with the outer most portion of a gear tooth when the gear is stationary. Consequently, the gear and template will be able to rotate a small amount. To insure that this does not happen the child can apply a slight twisting force to the template. If the dog is resting against the tip of a gear tooth there will be a slight amount of rotation of the template and a small amount of rotation of the gear andthe raised central portion of the spring will snap into place between adjacent teeth on the gear periphery. To minimize the aforesaid possibility the teeth of gear 36 have very narrow, essentially pointed tips.

The cycle can be repeated and if desired a different template having apertures of other configurationscan be used.

A further feature of the present invention is that the drawing device can be conveniently used in travelling since the drawing pad can be nested within the flanges depending from the base plate. The device can be made of plastic, except for the spring, and hence is relatively inexpensive.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves the various objects of the invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A drawing device comprising a base plate having an opening extending therethrough, a template received in said opening, rotatable therein and having a plurality of apertures, means for rotating said template within said opening to any one of a plurality of different orientations, said base-plate having a plurality of edges and a flange depending from each of said edges in the same direction away from said base plate, each of said flanges being perpendicular to said base plate and each extending the same distance away from said base plate, said flanges defining a space matching the plan configuration and dimensions of the pad. v

2. A drawing device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means includes a gear rotatably received in a portion of said base plate, said template having a notched periphery with said gear in engagement with the notches on said template periphery and means for detaining said gear in any one of a plurality of different angular orientations whereby said template can be detained in any one of a plurality of diflerent angular orientations.

3. A drawing device according to claim 2 further inrotatably received therein, said detaining means including a locating means in resilient contact with the periphery of said gear.

4. A drawing device according to claim 3 wherein said locating means includes a spring having a raised dog biased against the periphery of said gear.

5. A drawing device according to claim 3 wherein said locating means includes a resilient member including a raised portion of a U-shap'ed configuration and a pair of opposed sides, one a leg integral with each side of the raised portion and each leg having a free end, said free ends engaging said base plate.

6. A drawing device according to claim 5 further including means for preventing said gear from being removed from said base plate. 

1. A drawing device comprising a base plate having an opening extending therethrough, a template received in said opening, rotatable therein and having a plurality of apertures, means for rotating said template within said opening to any one of a plurality of different orientations, said base plate having a plurality of edges and a flange depending from each of said edges in the same direction away from said base plate, each of said flanges being perpendicular to said base plate and each extending the same distance away from said base plate, said flanges defining a space matching the plan configuration and dimensions of the pad.
 2. A drawing device according to claim 1 wherein said rotating means includes a gear rotatably received in a portion of said base plate, said template having a notched periphery with said gear in engagement with the notches on said template periphery and means for detaining said gear in any one of a plurality of different angular orientations whereby said template can be detained in any one of a plurality of different angular orientations.
 3. A drawing device according to claim 2 further including a gear seat in said base plate with said gear rotatably received therein, said detaining means including a locating means in resilient contact with the periphery of said gear.
 4. A drawing device according to claim 3 wherein said locating means includes a spring having a raised dog biased against the periphery of said gear.
 5. A drawing device according to claim 3 wherein said locating means includes a resilient member including a raised portion of a U-shaped configuration and a pair of opposed sides, one a leg integral with each side of the raised portion and each leg having a Free end, said free ends engaging said base plate.
 6. A drawing device according to claim 5 further including means for preventing said gear from being removed from said base plate. 